Lesson 23: The Remnant of Israel – 11:1-10
 1 I ask, then, has God rejected His people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
3 “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have demolished Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”
4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,
8 as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”
9 And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”

Once again we touch on world events as we read our Scripture today – many people believe God has turned His back on Israel because of their rejection of Him when they rejected Jesus as their Messiah and demanded He be crucified.

Our verses today continue with a reminder to us that God’s ability to keep His promises to us are directly dependent on His ability to keep His promises to Israel. If He can break a promise to even one person, then none of His promises can be trusted. If He can break just one promise, then He cannot be God. If His grace is not big enough to forgive every sin, then His grace is not big enough to save us.


Remember, God has given every human being the right to choose some things in our life, and He holds us accountable for our choices. Just because Israel as a nation chose not to accept Jesus as their Messiah-King does not mean that individuals were then not able to choose for themselves to accept Jesus as their Savior. Paul said he was an example of this: he was a Jew and he had accepted Jesus even though the Jewish nation had rejected Him.

Even today, God is able to judge nations for their evil choices and yet protect and save those individuals who have chosen Him. Does this mean that earthquakes or floods or storms will only kill or destroy those who are not Christians? Of course not! But those who are Christians have, through their physical death, been welcomed into the eternal glory of Heaven and will forever be with Jesus (Philippians 1:21-24).

*What is your favorite promise from God?